The present invention relates generally to armor assemblies in vehicles. More specifically, the present invention relates to an armor assembly mounted on a vehicle in which the footprint of protection can be varied.
A vehicle is typically armored for combat by applying ballistic composite panels to the vehicle's frame surfaces. The panels can be made from various materials, such as metals or ceramics, and are designed to stop high velocity projectiles from traveling through the panel and into the vehicle. Armored vehicles may be built to meet a mixture of kinetic energy threats and non-kinetic energy threats, including gunfire, tank artillery, automatic weapons, missiles and atomic threats.
Since armor assemblies on a vehicle must strike a reasonable balance between weight, mobility and protection, only selected portions of the vehicle surface are typically armored. For this reason, a vehicle passenger must position him or herself behind the armor such that the armor assembly is located between the enemy fire and the vehicle passenger. For example, if a portion of the door is armored with a ballistic panel, the vehicle passenger must position him or herself behind the portion of the door having the panel. In some cases, due to constraints on where the ballistic panels can be placed on the vehicle, the panels may not provide an effective barrier in portions of the vehicle where the passenger is likely to be located.
Armor assemblies can also be movable with portions of the vehicle or with respect to portions of the vehicle. Since the ballistic panels are frequently heavy or placed at inaccessible locations, positioning the ballistic panel often requires an actuator or other mechanical systems to move it into place. One problem with relying on actuators or other mechanical systems is that these systems can full, particularly in situations were the vehicle has been debilitated. Further, the more complicated the mechanism to position the ballistic panel into place, the more susceptible the mechanism is to system failures.
A further problem with armored vehicles is that the vehicle may outlive the useful life of the armor. A combat vehicle may be maintained in the military inventory for many years before becoming obsolete. During this time period, various improvements in antiballistic materials may be invented or discovered. In prior art vehicles, the armor is placed in locations on the vehicle that make drastic vehicle reconstruction necessary in order to update the vehicle's armor.
Thus, there is a need for an armored vehicle design in which the footprint of protection can be varied.
There is a further need for an armored vehicle design where the antiballistic properties of the vehicle can be varied over time.
There is also a need for an armored vehicle design that provides the advantages of manual actuation of a heavy armored door with little danger to the operator.